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G. S. SAMUELSON.

STHETCHER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 17. I918.

Patented Nov. .4

GERALD S. SAMUELSON, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

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Specification ofLettersPatent.

Patented Nov. d, 1919.

Application filed September 17, 1918. Serial No. 254,494. I

To all 'wkomz't may concern: Y

Be it known that I, GERARD S. SAMUEL- soN, major R. A. M. 0., a subject of the Kingof Great Britain, residing aboard H. M. H. S. Goorkha, (address general postoflice, London, England,) have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Stretchers, of which the following is a full,

clear, and exact description, such as'will enable others sln'lled in the art to which it appertains to make and use-the same. I

This invention relates to canvas stretcher. Oneobject of the invention is to provide a stretcher that can be used for carrying patients in a recumbent position up or down stairs, through narrow passageways and trenches and around sharp corners.

Another object is to provide a stretcher that can be used for raising or lowering a patient in ashaft or from a vessels deck to a life boat and which is equipped with a ,means that tends to protect the patient against the weather.

Another object is to provide a stretcher of the character above described, which is so constructed that it is not necessary to repeatedly lift the patient onto or off of the stretcher when the .patient is being trans-' ferred to an operating table, bed or other support, or when the patientis being transferred from one railway car to another, or

w from a car'to a boat.

Another object is to provide-a stretcher that can be used as'a hammock.

And still another object is to provide a light weight, inexpensive. stretcher that can be repaired easily in the field by a person possessing no mechanical skill, and which is composed of a number of detachable parts, any one of which is capable of use with an-. other stretcher of the same design. Other objects and desirable features of thy-invention will be hereinafter pointed out. v

Briefly described, my improved stretcher consists of a bed portion formed of'canvas or some other suitable fabric, removable side 7 rails arranged in pockets arranged longitudinally along the side edges of the bed portion, loops or handles at the side edges of the bed portion that are-adapted to be used for carrying the stretcher when the side rails are not in operative position, flaps connected to the bed portion in such a manner they they can either be folded over the pa tient lying on the stretcher so as to form a covering for the patient, or can be used tosuspend the bed portion from an overhead supporting structure, such, for examwhen the stretcher'isbeing used as a ham- I mock.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a perspective view, illustrating my improved stretcher suspended from an overhead supporting structure.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of my stretcher.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the stretcher, showing the side rails removed and the flaps folded over the patient.

Fig. 4-is a perspective view, illustrating thestretcher used as a hammock; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view, illustrating the bed portion suspended by means of the flaps from a single pole that is adapted to be carried on the shoulders of two stretcher bearers.

Referring to thedrawings which illustrate the preferred form of my invention, A designates the bed portion of the stretcher which is preferably formed of canvas or some other suitable kind of fabric, B designates two side rails that are removably mounted in pockets C which extend longitudinally of the stretcher along the side edges of the bed portion A, D designates flaps formed of the same kind of material as the bed portion and secured to the side edges of I the stretcher is being used as a hammock.

In the preferred form of my invention as shown herein, the bed portion A is divided longitudinally at the center of the same and the two parts are letachably connected-to gether by a flat retaining strip 1 that extends longitudinally of the stretcher through cooperating staggeredpockets or casings 2 on the meeting edges of the two parts of the bed portion, as shown in Fig. 1. By construeting the bed portion in this manner it is possible to transfer a patient from the stretcher onto an operating table, bed or other support without bodily lifting the atient off of the stretcher, for after the ed portion A with the patient thereon has been deposited on the support to which the patient is to be transferred, it is only necessary to remove the retaining strip 1 and then withdraw the two parts of the bed portion from under the patient. Itis not essential, however, that the bed portion A be formed in this manner, for if desired, the bed portion could be formed in one piece. The bed portion and flaps can either be formed in one piece and the pockets or casings C formed I by separate pieces that are stitched to the side edges of the bed portion, or the flaps can be formed from separate pieces of material that are stitched to the side edges of the bed portion or to pockets or casings that extend longitudinally along the side edges of the bed portion.

The side rails B preferably consist of wooden poles that are adapted to be slipped endwise into and outof the pockets C at the side, edges of the bed portion, the intermediate portions of said poles which are arranged in the pockets C being of nonclrcular shape in cross section, as shown in Fig. 2, and the end portions of said poles being 'so shaped that they can be grasped conveniently by the hands of the stretcher bearers. The transverselydisposed brace members F are preferably formed from fiat strlps of metal, and are provided with supporting legs 3 and also non-circular-shaped sleeves 4 through which the side rails B can be inserted, thus producin a rigid frame of rectangular shape in out inc whose members can be easily assembled or disassembled. In case it is desired to use the stretcher asa hammock, the side rails B are removed and the members F are arranged between and connectedto ropes G that are secured to the bed portion A at the opposite ends of same, as shown in Fig. 4.

The] flaps Dcan either be used to form a covering for the patient, as shown in Fig. 3, or they can be used to suspend the stretcher from an overhead supporting structure, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5. To this endthe flaps are provided at their upper edges with rings or loops 5 through which a 'pole H can be inserted, as shown in Fig. 5, or to which snaps or hooks 6. on an overhead sup- I be carried by two stretcher bearers who grasp the handle portions at the ends of th e side rails, the flaps D being folded downwardly over the patient during the opwithdraw the side rails from the pockets 0 after the bed portion with the patient thereon has been deposited on the bed or other supporting structure. Notwithstanding the fact that the side rails of the stretcher have been removed, the patient is in condition to be transported quickly, owing to the fact that the hand grips E at the side edges of the bed portlon can be used to carry the stretcher.

If the patient is to be carried through a tortuous passageway the side rails are removed and the stretcher carried by the hand grips E, so as to enable the patient to be carriedaround sharp corners.- In carrying the patient through a trench or passageway too narrow for an ordinary stretcher, a-

single pole H can be slipped through the rings on the flaps D of the stretcher and the poles carried on the shoulders of the stretcher bearers, as shown in Fig. 5. When the patient is to be raised or lowered in a shaft or removed from a vesselfs deck to a life boat, the flaps D of the stretcher are connected to a sling carried by the boom of a derrick, as shown in Fig. 1, thus effecting the transfer of the patient without removing the patient from the stretcher.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A stretcher, comprising a fabric bed portion, two flaps permanently connected to the longitudinal side edges of said bed portion and of such width that they can be lapped one over the other to form a covering for the patient on the stretcher, and means on the free edges of said flaps for connecting them to an overhead supportlng structure, thereby enabling said flaps to be used either as a covering for the patient or to suspend the bed portion from a supporting structure.

2. A stretcher, comprising a fabric bed portion provided at its longitudinal side edges with pockets, rlgid side rails removably mounted in said pockets, transverselythe stretcher, and means on the free edges of the flaps for securing the flaps to an overhead supporting structure.

3. A stretcher, comprising a frame com- 5 posed'of two rigid side rails and two trans-- versely-disposedbrace vmembers, each of said brace members comprising a rigid part provided at its opposite ends with noncircular shaped sleeves for receiving the side rails and integral legs that depend from said 10. sleeves, and a fabric bed portion pro-- vided with longitudinally-extending pockets through which the side rails of said frame pass.

GERALD s. SAMUELSON 

